Part of the U19 World Cup-winning Indian side of 2012, Hanuma Vihari’s solidity as a batsman was a well-documented fact, right from his childhood days. A native of Kakinada in Andhra, he promptly climbed up the ranks, through South Zone and the junior National sides. While he continued to churn out runs across formats, it was obvious that Vihari was made for Test match cricket. After landing an IPL contract with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2012, he also produced a Man-of-the-Match performance in that season, also showcasing his part-time off-breaks to good effect by getting Chris Gayle for a golden duck. His batting lacked the unconventional fizz and power-hitting that you associate with T20 cricket but his
class was undeniable.

The biggest praise he could get was from his then SRH teammate, South African superstar Dale Steyn who spoke highly of Vihari’s ability as a batsman. Over the years, he continued to up his game in First-class cricket, and with his average hovering around the 60s, a national call-up was inevitable. Consistent batting struggles for India during their England tour in 2018 meant that Vihari landed a debut mid-series at The Oval and immediately impressed with a gritty fifty that did have its share of luck. Nevertheless, his composure and solidity were lauded. However, with Rohit Sharma also in the race for a middle-order spot and Virat Kohli’s tendency to play five bowlers, Vihari’s spot wasn’t fixed and he soon found himself opening the batting in Australia for the sake of team combination. He didn’t score a lot of runs but blunted the new ball with a lot of grit and Rohit’s injury saw him back to the middle order thereafter.

Vihari’s ability to land fairly workable part-time off-breaks is another quality that works in his favour when the team management sits down to earmark a playing XI. While Kohli is known to play five specialist bowlers, of late he has looked to go with the extra batsman and while playing just four bowlers, Vihari’s skills with the ball are invaluable. Of course, it’s the bat that has done the talking and after an extremely successful tour of West Indies, he seems to have nailed down that middle-order spot. In fact, it’s due to this that Rohit Sharma now finds himself with the task of opening the innings to fit in the XI, a straight reversal of fortunes from the MCG Test in early 2019. Vihari is now part of the Delhi Capitals in the IPL
but remains regarded as a Test match specialist who can at best, be an ODI resource.

Written by Hariprasad Sadanandan